Using the Time You’ve Been Given
A Different Time Management Philosophy – Part 4
“It’s not the hours you put in, it’s what you put in the hours.” – Jim Rohn
The mere idea of time management is built upon the precept that time is out of our control. You see, if you controlled time, there would be no need for this idea of time management. In conclusion, we spend a lifetime trying to control what’s uncontrollable. Let’s not get stuck in that common loop. If we wish to become uncommon and take our lives to the next level, we will have to learn to master how to control the things we can control.
One of the keys I’ve learned as a result of Jim Rohn’s philosophies on time is to figure out how to be in control. Allow me to give you an example that Mr. Rohn used time and time again. How often do the seasons occur? Each year with regularity for greater than 6000 years. If that’s the case and it is, then we can expect the seasons to continue to occur. Therefore the seasons are out of our control. But what’s in our control is how we handle the seasons and what we do within each of these time-markers we’ve identified as seasons. Instead of trying to put in more hours, rather manage what you put into each hour. What’s in our control is how we handle the hours and what we do within each of the hour time-markers we have identified.
With this thought in mind, I’d like to offer four actions one can take that places them in control.
- Start with the end in mind.
“When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” – Jim Rohn
So often, which means it’s normal, we work with our sight not on the end. In other words, we work without starting with a finished product in mind. I’ve heard it said don’t start until you have it all finished.
Don’t start your day until you have it finished in your mind.
Don’t start your week until you have it finished in your mind.
Don’t start your career until you have it finished in your mind.
I recently heard Dave Ramsey say it to this effect, “you become what you think about.” Whatever you’re thinking is what you are becoming. In other words, for this idea on time management, if your thoughts are that you don’t have enough time or see no way to complete the actions within the time markers, then you’re right. He used an illustration about how humans-beings once thought it was impossible to run a mile in under four minutes. A guy by the name of Roger Bannister was the first to do it and gave other athletes the idea (thinking) that it could be done. “You become what you think about,” says Dave Ramsey. You are where your thoughts have taken you. It’s time we allowed our thinking to drive us towards an end goal. Before you begin, have the end in mind. Have your thoughts already on the finish-line. This is what I call extraordinary thinking. Don’t start until you have the end in mind. - Major in the major not the minor.
“Don’t major in minor things.” – Jim Rohn
I like to think of myself as a student of personal development. That means I’m growth minded. I’m constantly learning. The most reliable Proverb says it like this. “Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Forage for Understanding!” [1] Go after growing your mind. Growth is a way of learning so that “we can major in major things.” The idea is like cleaning out your garage. You empty it out and the first things you place back in are the large items. The large items, like your car, are a major thing. It’s the reason you have a garage. You’ve seen homes where the occupants park their car outside and use the garage for storing other items. That’s majoring in minor things. In other words, the purpose of the garage has been overlooked. The small items are like the minor things. To get out of life what you wish in the time-markers you have, then you will have to learn how to major in the major. You can’t get bogged down in the minor. Another name for these minor activities is “noise”. Don’t allow the noise to get in the way of your majoring in the majors. The biggest key here is don’t look for society and what’s normal as a way of figuring out what to major in. The average person is a master in minors. Don’t look to the ways of the common if you plan to achieve greatness. This is how you plan to go to the next level. - Let the systems serve you, not distract you.
“When you work, work.
When you play, play.
Don’t mix the two.” – Jim Rohn
You’ve seen people play at work and work when they should be at play. This is what I call out of order. What else is out of order when our systems designed to make life easier and better become a burden and a distraction? For example, you look at your phone to pay a bill and you do everything else but pay that bill. You have so many notifications and alerts that you forget what you should be doing and allow the distractions to get you off course. Distractions are like the waves of the seashore. You hardly notice the slow movement away from your original position and then all of a sudden, so it seems, you’re yards or a mile down the beach. How does this happen? Distractions. You allowed something to take your focus.
Systems like your phone, emails, even social media were designed to be a help, but we’ve allowed it to become a burden. My foundational leader wrote a book called “Relationships: Bridger or Burden?” “Bridge” refers to that which can help you get across and “burden” refers to the things that stand in your way, making it harder to get moving. Ordinary people have allowed their systems to become burdens. It’s time to be uncommon and allow your systems to be the bridge that gets you to the results you desire. - Prioritize time above money.
“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you can not get more time.” – Jim Rohn
In this one powerful statement is a hidden message that most will fail to ever see. If time is more valuable than money and it is, one should use their money to obtain better use of one’s time. For example, if you need the time you use to do some meaningless task to do something more meaningful or profitable, then you should really consider outsourcing the less meaningful task. If you could be more profitable and productive by offloading tasks that could be done by someone else, then that’s probably a wise investment for your resources. I’d hate to think I missed out on being my best because I valued my money over my time. This point is to help those who are wrestling with making that next step of outsourcing so that they can major in the major. This one principle set me free and has allowed us to be more effective, efficient, and profitable. We’ve decided to prioritize our time over our money.
As we put this lesson together, I realized even the more that these principles and practices aren’t normal. In other words, to apply this type of thinking to your life is going to require that you part from average, ordinary, normal thinking. You will have to leave the state of letting it control you and get to the place where you control it. The markers that we call time. Being in control of it is knowing where to place your thinking, majoring in the major, not allowing your systems to burden you, and finally, prioritizing time above money.
Question: which one of these philosophies is the one you find you could stand to work on the most?
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[1] Proverbs 4:3-9 MSG, Bible.com, accessed June 28, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/97/PRO.4.3-9.MSG
All Scripture references used by permission, see our Scripture copyrights.
